Read Online To Love A Witch (A Novel Nibbles title) by Debora Geary - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Debora Geary
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they can’t. Is she scared?”
“Yeah.” Jolie thought a moment. “But excited,
too. Like she’s waiting for something.”
None of this was getting them any closer to
finding a little girl about to start a fire. He tried to think
about the details his mother tended to pick up in her visions of
the future. Emotions, stray thoughts, odd environmental details.
“Can you see her at all, Jolie? Her face, or does she maybe call
herself a name?”
“No. But I think she’s kind of big. When Romy
comes to rescue her, she can’t carry her by herself, and you have
to come help.”
Great, he got to be the muscles.
Jolie frowned, confused. “That doesn’t make
sense. She’s as big as Romy when you pick her up, but she’s a
little girl, just like me.”
Jake grabbed Jolie as her eyes suddenly dilated.
He’d seen that countless times from his mother. Jolie clutched her
belly and moaned.
“What’s going on, Jake?” Romy looked close to
panic.
He wasn’t very happy himself. “She’s sharing
sensations with the other little girl.”
Jake tried not to imagine what Jolie would go
through if she stayed linked to a small girl in a room full of
fire. They needed to find the child, and now.
“It happened once before,” Molly said. “About
ten minutes ago. It lasted for almost a minute, and then stopped.”
As if on cue, Jolie stopped clutching her belly and looked up.
Romy turned white and grabbed Jake’s arm.
“Jolie. How long have you been feeling these belly aches?”
“Since just before dinner, but they hurt more
now.”
Jake could see Romy connecting the dots as he
watched. She turned to him with big eyes. “It’s not a girl, Jake. I
think it’s a woman, and she’s in labor.”
“What’s labor?” Jolie asked.
Molly answered. “It’s when a woman has a baby in
her belly, and it’s time for the baby to come out.”
Romy clutched his arm harder. “Carla said her
magic hit hard when she gave birth to her babies. If this woman is
a fire witch, that could be what triggers the fire Jolie sees.
Jake, we have to find her.”
Her urgency exploded against his frustration.
“We still have no idea who she is, or where she is.”
“Think, Jake. You said I set off the Sentinel
alarms four times as a kid.”
Now he saw it. “And there’s no way she’s a grown
fire witch and never set off an alert. She’ll be in Alvin’s
files.”
He turned to Molly. “You have a laptop, right? I
need to use it.”
Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he
called home. “Carla, we think the girl might be one of the ones
Asshole Alvin gave up on. I need you to log into my private files
so I can pull that data faster.” He quickly walked her through his
four-step login. “Thanks, Carla. Love you. We’ll let you know as
soon as we find her.”
He hung up. Action felt really, really good. “I
already researched where all the girls ended up. We can narrow that
down to ages likely to be pregnant and start checking the names
out.”
Molly flew out of the house, computer in hand.
It was old and clunky compared to his baby, but anything with a
keyboard would get the job done.
He brute-forced a connection to his home
computer and grabbed the data file. Eighty-one girls. Sixty-two
still living.
He looked up at Romy. “Let’s assume for now that
Jolie’s picking up on someone close by; that gets us to thirty-one
names. What’s a reasonable age range for pregnant women?”
“Could be thirteen to fifty, Jake. She’s alone
and scared—that doesn’t suggest a husband in the picture.”
His fingers flew. “Okay, that gets us down to
nineteen. I have known addresses for half.”
She grabbed his arm. “Wait. If she’s pregnant,
she’d have seen a doctor.” Her face collapsed. “Never mind, there’s
no way we could figure that out.”
There sure as hell was. “All healthcare visits
get run through a billing system. There’s only two big ones in this
state. If I cross their records with our nineteen
“Yeah.” Jolie thought a moment. “But excited,
too. Like she’s waiting for something.”
None of this was getting them any closer to
finding a little girl about to start a fire. He tried to think
about the details his mother tended to pick up in her visions of
the future. Emotions, stray thoughts, odd environmental details.
“Can you see her at all, Jolie? Her face, or does she maybe call
herself a name?”
“No. But I think she’s kind of big. When Romy
comes to rescue her, she can’t carry her by herself, and you have
to come help.”
Great, he got to be the muscles.
Jolie frowned, confused. “That doesn’t make
sense. She’s as big as Romy when you pick her up, but she’s a
little girl, just like me.”
Jake grabbed Jolie as her eyes suddenly dilated.
He’d seen that countless times from his mother. Jolie clutched her
belly and moaned.
“What’s going on, Jake?” Romy looked close to
panic.
He wasn’t very happy himself. “She’s sharing
sensations with the other little girl.”
Jake tried not to imagine what Jolie would go
through if she stayed linked to a small girl in a room full of
fire. They needed to find the child, and now.
“It happened once before,” Molly said. “About
ten minutes ago. It lasted for almost a minute, and then stopped.”
As if on cue, Jolie stopped clutching her belly and looked up.
Romy turned white and grabbed Jake’s arm.
“Jolie. How long have you been feeling these belly aches?”
“Since just before dinner, but they hurt more
now.”
Jake could see Romy connecting the dots as he
watched. She turned to him with big eyes. “It’s not a girl, Jake. I
think it’s a woman, and she’s in labor.”
“What’s labor?” Jolie asked.
Molly answered. “It’s when a woman has a baby in
her belly, and it’s time for the baby to come out.”
Romy clutched his arm harder. “Carla said her
magic hit hard when she gave birth to her babies. If this woman is
a fire witch, that could be what triggers the fire Jolie sees.
Jake, we have to find her.”
Her urgency exploded against his frustration.
“We still have no idea who she is, or where she is.”
“Think, Jake. You said I set off the Sentinel
alarms four times as a kid.”
Now he saw it. “And there’s no way she’s a grown
fire witch and never set off an alert. She’ll be in Alvin’s
files.”
He turned to Molly. “You have a laptop, right? I
need to use it.”
Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he
called home. “Carla, we think the girl might be one of the ones
Asshole Alvin gave up on. I need you to log into my private files
so I can pull that data faster.” He quickly walked her through his
four-step login. “Thanks, Carla. Love you. We’ll let you know as
soon as we find her.”
He hung up. Action felt really, really good. “I
already researched where all the girls ended up. We can narrow that
down to ages likely to be pregnant and start checking the names
out.”
Molly flew out of the house, computer in hand.
It was old and clunky compared to his baby, but anything with a
keyboard would get the job done.
He brute-forced a connection to his home
computer and grabbed the data file. Eighty-one girls. Sixty-two
still living.
He looked up at Romy. “Let’s assume for now that
Jolie’s picking up on someone close by; that gets us to thirty-one
names. What’s a reasonable age range for pregnant women?”
“Could be thirteen to fifty, Jake. She’s alone
and scared—that doesn’t suggest a husband in the picture.”
His fingers flew. “Okay, that gets us down to
nineteen. I have known addresses for half.”
She grabbed his arm. “Wait. If she’s pregnant,
she’d have seen a doctor.” Her face collapsed. “Never mind, there’s
no way we could figure that out.”
There sure as hell was. “All healthcare visits
get run through a billing system. There’s only two big ones in this
state. If I cross their records with our nineteen
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